H Ramakrishnan was born on Christmas Day 1941, in Trivandrum, Kerala, India to R Harihara Iyer and Vijayalakshmi. Has over 40 years of experience as a journalist. He has worked in State-run media Doordarshan, (All India Radio), Press Information Bureau and Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity in various capacities. The people of Tamil Nadu, India still remember him as a very famous newscaster, whose distinct voice would come out clearly.

Affected by polio at the age of two-and-a-half years, H Ramakrishnan had to battle out every step in life. Even when he had to attend school he was denied admission to the local school and had to be taken to a different school in a different town by his maternal grandfather. After he passed the UPSC exam when Ramakrishnan went to join duty as either news reader, translator or reporter but he was not accepted for the post because of his handicap (he has polio in both his legs).

Despite having a disability of 85 percent, Ramakrishnan moved around by buses till he got a side car scooter. Later on he used to drive an autorickshaw with a hand brake, specially fitted for him by Bajaj Auto Ltd. When he was in service a senior official had mentioned the fact that he was physically disabled in Ramakrishnan's confidential report but then Ramakrishnan went to the then President V. V. Giri, who immediately passed an order that the fact that people are disabled must not be considered while evaluating them in their Confidential Reports.

He runs a charitable trust called Krupa to help specially abled persons to buy hearing aids, walking sticks, tricycles and calipers.